Reading

Current Mood: tired

Entry tags:

Book Log: Fuck Yeah Video Games

Ahhhh remember when FuckYeah[Thing] was everywhere in the fannish parlance?

Anyway some years back I was an avid watcher of

NerdCubed's youtube channel, because as someone with horrible hand-eye coordination I found his irreverent skill and enjoyment at taking video games to their absurd limit really fun, and such LPs as I still remember for "Bully", "Shadow of the Colossus", "Psychonauts", "Outer Wilds" and one of the Jurassic Park games where you can actually build a theme park (and the raptors kept escaping, which enraged him to no end). These days I still have him subscribed but don't watch him as often, as there's way more content I follow now.

Regardless, back when he announced that he'd written a book, I ordered it as a way to say thank you for all those hours of entertainment, which is why I have a copy of Daniel Hardcastle's Fuck Yeah Videogames. It is, in my opinion, near incomprehensible if you don't already know Daniel and his brand of humour, as it is an irreverent list of various video games he loves and some he does not, the history ("history", in places) of various video consoles, plus a healthy dollop of semi memoir in the little stories he tells about himself, his family and friends, in explaining the way various video games make him feel. It's less a book and more like longform stand up in text form, I think. Maybe the audio version would be better, as someone who's enjoyed his rambling, but in text form I found it a bit tiresome.

At the back he lists his 100 favourite games of all time and I was shocked to see Outer Wilds was not there (he introduced me to the game!). Then I checked, and oh the game came out in 2019 and he finished writing the book in 2018, which explains it.

December cards post!

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Writer PSAs

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

the westing game

the extremely dramatic end to my writing drought lately

It's a beautiful day to start a Westing Game reread just to see how much of it was being done by Sidney Sikes behind the scenes. (Obviously he's the limping person Chris sees, and very likely the one whispering to Turtle.)

Pay no attention to the 6K words of fic I did not have two days ago.

(You want a rare pair, I suspect I am the only person who ships Sam Westing/Sidney Sikes) (the fic is not about that. The fic is about Alice Deere) (okay not really)

So that happened, part three

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: EXID - Ah Yeah

Entry tags:

Crime Scene Zero

I've made my way through two different versions of this post before discarding most of the content and starting over. What happened was, I finished watching Crime Scene Zero, had mostly negative reactions and wrote that up, then started rewatching Crime Scene from season 1 and realized that hey, season 1 was not that great either so my feelings must be biased due to nostalgia goggles, but then I went through my favourites of season 2 and recalibrated again so here we are.

My most recent simplified conclusion is that Crime Scene Zero was fine overall, as I really enjoyed two episodes, was mostly positive on one, and didn't like two. (For reasons to get into shortly.) This seemed like a bad ratio until I rewatched bits of seasons 1 and 2, and realized that because those seasons had 10 and 13 cases each, compared to Zero's 5 cases, they FELT better because there were more cases I enjoyed, when the actual ratio of % per season enjoyed is similar to Returns and Zero.

Important to note that BOOOOOO, Hong Jin-ho didn't come back AT ALL, for either Return or Zero. He was an original cast member! Jin-ho, why! He probably has reasons, but I am still sad. But to my surprise, he has been in multiple episodes of Running Man, which I stopped watching ages ago, so maybe I'll.... find those..... maybe. I would've thought that Running Man isn't his style, but what do I know about the vagaries of reality TV celebs.

( Haha I got thoughts. )

Rebagel

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Beta Poll

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

So that happened

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

"The Tadfield Satanic Nones." (Good Omens) G

Title: The Tadfield Satanic Nones.
Author:

lannamichaels
Fandom: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: Apart from the name, Warlock Dowling was an unlikely rock star.

( the best ever death metal band out of denton will in time both outpace and outlive you (hail satan!) )

Yuletide

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

No, you won't remember it, write it down

On Sunday, I heard Hotel California on the radio and suddenly knew it would be a great fanvid and could see it all unfold beautifully in my head. I was going to write it down but decided against it.

Today I'm like "okay I am not a vidder but maybe I could do that in drabble form" and CANNOT REMEMBER WHICH FANDOM IT WAS.

:(

guess I may go with "what's the funniest thing" (Jane Austen).

EDIT: I remember! I remember! Complaining works! ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.

Observations

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: not feeling too good here, fam

Entry tags:

Book Log: Goddesses, Whores, Wives & Slaves

I read Sarah B. Pomeroy's Goddesses, Whores, Wives & Slaves, which explores what daily life was for women of classical Greece and Republic Rome based on the thin historical record, plays, poetry and so on, for the purpose of illuminating an otherwise ignored or invisible faction of society. What rights did they have or not have, how were they viewed by and treated by the men who had power over them, what were the gender essentialist turned institutional mechanisms used to control them, and so on. Pomeroy argues that evolution towards increasing freedoms isn't a-given, with her analysis that ancient Greece had more freedoms for women, then a tightening of those freedoms after wartime and a reduction of the male population, then more relaxation of freedoms into the Hellenistic era.

I admit, although the topic itself is interesting to me, I found the prose hella dry and the style tough to get through at points. But then I realized that the book was published in 1975, during a very different time of historical scholarship! I still find it dry and heavy-handed in places, but I can appreciate the groundbreaking feminist view of analysis, and the necessity of spelling things out clearly in order to argue against common perception of the time, even if it's tiresome to read now. Particularly enjoyed Pomeroy mentioning her male historian predecessors who made assumptions about women's attitudes back then due to the societal blinders they had about the women of their own time (eg. assuming women are happy with their lot).

One thing I will take away from the book with the glee is the description of how in ancient Athens, high class women were kept secluded at home and away from the eyes of men who weren't family, with exceptions to go outside behind a veil. That is... the purdah. Ancient Athens, birthplace of the modern concept of democracy, practised the purdah, the same way medieval Arabia did. (Low class women and slaves were allowed to go about freely without the veil, same as in medival Arabia.) That's rather funny, I think!

Some actual good news

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: thoughtful

Entry tags:

Aryana

In my further adventures of "watching" Filipino mermaid-centric TV shows, I've started watching Aryana and the opening situation has a poor woman (Ofelia) and a rich man (Victor) having already gotten married despite the casual classist cruelty of Victor's mother (Elnora). You've got the regular shorthand of Ofelia not knowing how to handle herself in unfamiliar rich-people-enviroment situations (which is also Victor's fault for not helping her, not that these kinds of stories acknowledge that most of the time) which earns Elnora's ire and verbal abuse. Ofelia=good, Elnora=bad, as these things go.

However! Ofelia tries to assert some financial independence by selling cheap lunch food, hawker style, and we're supposed to go, YAY @ her, and BOO @ Elnora for belittling Ofelia's efforts. But! Ofelia has chosen to sell food in the same dang office building, and I think it's hella tacky to take money from your VERY RICH husband's employees, even if you are selling food to them. It's not wrong, but if I were an employee I'd be side-eyeing that fam.

What a week

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Outer Wilds OST - Timber Hearth

Entry tags:

comics,
year 2025

Superman '78

I got my hands of the trade paperback of the first Superman '78 comic! A local reseller surprisingly had it in stock, so I pounced when I saw it. So now I have read both, the first story of which was published over 2021 and the second (which was the first book I got) was published over 2023-2024.

They're continuations of the Christopher Reeve Superman universe, and I was excited to read them, though when the plot kicked in I paused and had the very distinctive thought, "Oh no... bad things are going to happen to Clark! I don't want bad things to happen to Clark!" Even though bad things have to happen in order for there to be a story at all, but there was a funny mismatch in my brain because the Reeves Superman movies are so comforting and familiar and safe, while you don't know what you'll be getting with new canon! ("Canon", of course.)

Anyway both stories are charming and earnest and funny, but nowhere near as goofy as the movies were*, which I think is a consequence of trying to tell a story set in that era now, with our modern sensibilities and nostalgia and reverence tangled up in each other. Plus, it may just be the format, since there's no cinematic pauses or dramatic music to amp up the feeling, but I felt there was less weight to the stories, though the first story literally up-ends the status quo by ( spoilers ) Clark makes his typical choices and sacrifices in both stories, but he's noble and at most sad about it. He doesn't get angry or have break downs as he does in the movies.

*The plot and resolution of The Metal Curtain is goofy but in an idealistic way, where doing the right thing immediately has his "enemies" realizing that Superman has good intentions and doing a heel face turn. It's not goofy in a Superman-turns-back-time-by-flying-really-fast or throwing-nukes-into-the-sun-creates-a-sun-based-villain way.

Also! Very funny that the plot of the first comic sounds like what James Gunn said the second Superman DCU movie is going to be about, namely ( potential spoilers for a future DCU movie. ) That's this comic!

When you want an AU but everyone else who wants that AU wants it for different reasons

In my reading of Game Of Thrones fic, I developed an urge for fic where Elia Martell Targaryen (why some married women are only referred to by their maiden names and some are always only referred to by their married names, I do not know) and her kids don't die. It would be interesting to see what it would change!, I thought. Surely it doesn't need to change a huge amount necessarily, but it would great to see it!

And so I went looking and found a bunch and it turns out.

It turns out that when you want fic where legitimate claimants to a throne survive, you get a ton of fic about Targaryen restoration. You get so many fics that are love letters to the Targaryens.

I don't care about Targaryen restoration! I don't like the Targaryens and see no reason why I should! (Except for Aemon, the Targaryen maester who is still alive at the Wall, I allow that he's really intruiging.)

Also I will admit the first time I saw the pairing of Jon Snow/Rhaenys Targaryen, I had a full blown "why? why the fuck?"

But yeah I get it, if Jon Snow is her long lost half-brother, then it's true Targaryen heritage to ship them. I don't see it, I don't even like the ship, and it's interesting how I have no problem whatsoever with Jon Snow/Sansa Stark, who were raised as half-siblings, but my reaction to Jon/Rhaenys is "I'm completely uninterested in reading this". Also I'm not really into Jon/Daenerys.

Maybe it's the whole enforced-incest of the Targaryens? IDK.

But also.

Reading the fic.

Okay so I am never going to read the books, I have long since been warned off from all the grimdark rape, and I am never going to watch the show, ditto.

I did not realize how small the amount of time the Targaryens have actually been ruling in Westeros. They only showed up like 300 years ago???? In a setting where people are like "my family has been ruling in this one spot for 10,000 years" or whatever, the Targaryens are new kids on the block who showed up with dragons, conquered everyone, had several (!) really bad rulers, constantly married each other (in violation of the local religion, and no one else was allowed to copy their behavior because they're special), seemed to do very little marrying out to the locals because who needs to shore up support, dealt with civil war/rebellion, lost their dragons, had a really fucking awful last king, and then, surprise, they were overthrown.

And you want those folks back? You are nostalgic for the wonderful days of the people who showed up five minutes ago and were generally terrible?

Also blowing my mind was, okay, I had been told over and over again that Baratheons all look a certain way since time immemorial and so that's why obviously if you look into it, Cersei's kids can't be Robert's.

But the Baratheons were founded as a new house by a Targaryen bastard. The looks of the Baratheons are the opposite of the Targaryens. Also this is also only like 300 years ago, and Westeros seems to enjoy a society where there are several pathways to ensure that only one or two of your sons are allowed to have children (maesters, the wall, endless wars).

So all this is kind of amusing from a "reading fic without knowing canon" perspective, the slow unfolding of, oh my god, what is going on in this canon. But also the mismatch of people who have actually read/watch this canon and what they want to write (Targaryen restoration, Targaryen incest) vs. me who has not done that, and what I want to read.

But actually what I want to write is a fic where Jon Snow actually is Ned Stark's bastard. Ah, yes, I see here that "Ned Stark is very honorable". Uh-huh. Well, he had an affair with a woman who is a sex worker/laundress/woman who was interested before his marriage and then, because he is so honorable, he took the child in and raised him, rather than leaving Jon Snow to live in poverty.

This explains nothing about why Ned Stark wouldn't tell Jon Snow about this mother but I'm sure we can come up with something (the mother was already married? who cares).

But I'm not writing this, entirely because I have no idea of a plot to go along with this. Oh and also I'm not reading/watching this, but I wrote an MDZS drabble without reading the book/finishing the show.

Brains on Lack Of Good Drugs

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )